Letters to a Young Catholic

Letters to a Young Catholic In this remarkable tour of the Catholic world George Weigel helps us understand how Catholicism fosters what Flannery O Connor called the habit of being Taking the reader by the hand Weigel embarks

Title: Letters to a Young Catholic

Author: George Weigel

ISBN: 9780465092703

Page: 146

Format: Paperback

In this remarkable tour of the Catholic world, George Weigel helps us understand how Catholicism fosters what Flannery O Connor called the habit of being Taking the reader by the hand, Weigel embarks on a journey to Catholic landmarks as diverse as Chartres Cathedral and St Mary s Church in Greenville, South Carolina the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and G.K ChestertonIn this remarkable tour of the Catholic world, George Weigel helps us understand how Catholicism fosters what Flannery O Connor called the habit of being Taking the reader by the hand, Weigel embarks on a journey to Catholic landmarks as diverse as Chartres Cathedral and St Mary s Church in Greenville, South Carolina the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and G.K Chesterton s favorite pub the grave of a modern martyr in Warsaw, and the Sistine Chapel Weaving together insights from history, literature, theology, and music, Weigel uses these touchstones to illuminate the beliefs that have shaped Catholicism for two thousand years.With clarity and conviction, Weigel examines the foundations of Catholic faith and explores the topics of grace, prayer, vocation, sin and forgiveness, suffering, and most importantly love Putting a dramatic face on this invitation to Catholicism, Weigel introduces some of the figures who have shaped his faith and thought Michelangelo and Fra Angelico Evelyn Waugh and Cardinal John Henry Newman Father Jerzy Popieuszko and Pope John Paul II Edith Stein and Mother Teresa as he also shares anecdotes from his own Catholic life To a world that sometimes seems closed and claustrophobic, he suggests, Christian humanism offers a world with windows and doors and a skylight.In these letters, George Weigel conveys the power of a faith that is at once personal and universal, timely and eternal His book will inspire not only the young generation of Catholics whose World Youth Day celebrations have launched an era of renewal for the Church, but also the faithful, the doubtful, and the searchers of every age.

One thought on “Letters to a Young Catholic”

It took me about a year and a half to finish this one (I started it last winter, dropped it for a year and picked it up again this summer) but it's a good one! It's a series of essays on Catholic thought as demonstrated through various Catholic figures and pieces of history. He discusses the ideas of a few of my favourites such as Flannery O'Connor, G. K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh and Karol Wojtyla. (<----I'd put Weigel's mammoth bio of this great servant of God on my to-read list, but I'm too [...]

Rereading this and enjoying immensely. It seems like a perfect bookend to Robert Barron's Catholicism. Both informative and inspirational, it would be the perfect gift for any Catholic, especially American Catholics.

As a “young catholic” myself, this book was all I was hoping for!! George Weigel does a great job introducing many of the key places and players throughout the Catholic tradition. Very informative and encouraging!

This is a better book than the 3 stars suggest, but I feel like there has to be a cap on any book that takes me more than a year to read.I decided to read Letters to a Young Catholic because I had failed at just about every theology book I had tried to read in the past few years. 12 years of Catholic school (albeit a very long time ago) should be enough to understand them, right? Nope. OK then, maybe a book written for young people would be more my speed? Plus I had been reading George Weigel's [...]

“We all live in ‘the gap’ between the person we are today and the person we ought to be. That’s the inherent dramatic structure of the spiritual life, and of the moral life. Living in and closing that gap — better: living in and letting God’s grace, at work in our lives, close the gap — is a matter of becoming the kind of people who can live with God forever, the kind of people for whom heaven is a (super)natural pleasure, not an acquired taste.” (p. 119)Absolutely loved this, an [...]

This is far and away the most important book I have ever read. Weigel weaves together a series of letters so personal they transcend to the universal. His prose at moments leaps secretly into poetry. He regards the spiritual, physical, patriotic and counter cultural capacities of Catholicism with equal and incredibly digestible gravity. This is a book for anyone willing to wade out into the estuary where the pragmatic meets the mysterious. 5/5

The book was a gift from a friend because we have visited many of the places the author mentions. Each chapter with Les about the places and more a jumping off point for private meditation about Catholicism and the nature of it. In addition, source list in the back provides lots of material for my spiritual reading list.

Reviewed on November 6, 2007:Reading this book--about halfway through my journey through RCIA--was a joy from beginning to end.Weigel begins with the idea that having a uniquely Catholic worldview has a great deal to do with actually being Catholic. And so, he takes his readers on a tour of the "Catholic world," beginning in Flannery O'Connor's hometown of Milledgeville, Georgia, where he discusses the "habit of being," and ending at the Basilica of the Holy Trinity in Kraków, Poland, which pre [...]

GREAT book. Though there remains no chance of me "swimming the Tiber," this sure made me appreciate and understand my Catholic brethren much more and the riches of their theological world. Weigel is at his most compelling when he talks about what is lowercase-c catholic--particularly the relationship between the spiritual and material worlds (a sacramental perspective) and what he calls a catholic optic (funny how I was taught that pretty much the same thing was actually called the reformed worl [...]

A great book. This book reminds us that being Catholic is not just about doctrine and rules, but rather about Truth and the reality behind that Truth. This book reminds us that being Catholic is a human experience in total - our minds, emotions, feelings. This book made me feel proud to be Catholic. George Weigel challenges us to live boldly for Christ because as Catholics reality matters - that is, everything matters. Truth is real and as such is worth living, fighting, and even dying for.

As a young Catholic myself, this book was a beautiful and inspiring read, filled with interesting stories about various saints and prominent Catholic figures reinforced by Jesus' teachings at the end of each letter. While I loved certain letters and liked the book as a whole, sometimes I would get lost in Weigel's anecdotes and miss the point he was trying to make. All in all, this is the kind of book that deserves to be read multiple times; Weigel beautifully describes certain facets of Catholi [...]

I read this slowly because I enjoyed thinking about it, not for lack of reading engagement. I highly recommend for Catholics of all ages, or anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic perspective and some amazing world history, artwork, and literature.

George Weigel's book 'Letters To A Young Catholic', which intends to be a guiding and inspirational exegesis of Roman Catholic teaching, takes the reader on a journey through the catholic world, introducing its views on personal and public matters through matching them with buildings and locations of historic significance.While the book introduces the reader successfully to the facts and positions of the Roman Catholic Church, it unfortunately fails to inspire.I joined the Catholic Church as a f [...]

I purchased this book a week and a half ago and finished it in a few days. Simply put: it is incredible. I warmly recommend it and think it an absolute must have for your library. With his typical verve and style, Weigel introduces the reader to the optic that is Catholicism--he shows you what it is to look at the world with Catholic lenses. And what a beautiful picture it is. Readers of Weigel will notice similar themes to other of Weigel's writings especially "Witness to Hope" and "Truth of Ca [...]

Letters to a Young Catholic is a thoroughly engaging and brilliantly insightful book. The author takes us on a tour of various sites of the Catholic world. From Chartes Cathedral to the Church of Mary's Dormition in Jerusalem to the hidden seminary in Krakow where the man who would later be Pope John Paul II was first ordained, from a London pub frequented by G.K. Chesterton to the Sistine Chapel to Baltimore's Old Cathedral, each unique place illustrates some aspect of the rich and varied tradi [...]

As a 'reforming post-evangelical', I have felt a need to better understand the other branches of the Christian church. Or, in this case, the trunk from which the Protestant branch I 'wuz brung up in' sprang from. 'Letters' helped me see several facets of Catholicism clearer. Two in particular were Mary (the mother of Jesus) as the first disciple whose example points us to Christ and the incarnation as the ultimate example of God grounding our spiritual experience in the created world. Of course, [...]

It took until last November to identify the best book that I read in 2014. This year, I'm pretty sure I have identified that book in September. I have serious doubts whether anything will rate higher than this newly updated (Aug. 11, 2015) version of George Weigel's Letters to a Young Catholic. Weigel, the biographer of multiple books on John Paul II, is probably at his best when discussing topics and events involving those places in Eastern Europe where he has spent so much time: Warsaw, Krakow [...]

George Weigel is a really good writer. Each of the book's fourteen letters opens with a tangible place and continues as he highlights how these tangible places (and communities) point to intangible and deeper truths about Catholicism. He wraps up each letter by bringing the reader back to the opening point and place. Great structure, comfortable to read. The following letters are particularly worth reading: * Letter Nine: St. Mary's Church, Greenville, South Carolina ― Why and How We Pray > [...]

This book read like poetry. The reverence with which Weigel takes his reader all over the Catholic world is enrapturing. Weigel's examination of the world through the very Catholic sacramental imagination of the world reminds me that beauty, truth, and goodness are important. And not only are they important, but they can be known. My personal favorite letters were Letter Two: Rome-The Scavi of St Peter's and the Grittiness of Catholicism, Letter Seven: Castle Howard, Yorkshire, England-Brideshea [...]

This book is a spiritual travelogue meant to give young Catholic Christians and other "curious souls" a taste of what it means to practice the Roman Catholic faith in the twenty-first century. Weigel discusses the sacramental imagination, the "grittiness" of the faith, Mary and discipleship, and the importance of beauty. He addresses more contentious topics without becoming polemical or allowing the book to be consumed by them; all the same, it's clear that he's a traditionalist. The combination [...]

Genius. Beautiful. Authentic. This is a masterfully written book. Weaving history, culture, art, architecture, theology, and the ordinary, the author shows you our profound Faith. His view on Catholicism and why it matters is certainly one of the most thought provoking and extraordinary looks into the richness and meaning and gifts of the Catholic Church. I borrowed this book from the library and have already bought my own copy to read again and again. This book has helped me fall in love with l [...]

George Weigel's reflective tour of Roman Catholicism in epistolary form, Letters to a Young Catholic is a work both conservative and inspiring (despite my liberal leanings). His letters open with specific sites as expressions and bearers of faith, historical resonance and contemporary meaning. From Baltimore, Warsaw and Rome to The Olde Cheshire Cheese (Chesterton's London Pub) and Chartres Cathedral, places become the lens through which he focuses his analysis, highlighting literature, liturgy, [...]

I didn't expect much from this book. Other than the profound biography of Pope John Paul II, I'm not a big Weigel fan. Letters turned out to be an amazing series of essays on the parts of the Catholic Faith that too many people ignore Weigel takes us to the Bird & Baby to sit with Tolkien and the inklings. He takes us to Brideshead manor to meet Cordelia. All the while, he draws the reader to realize that the ethos and the culture that authentic Christianity evokes is what ought to used to d [...]

This is my first read of Weigel's work. Even though my knowledge of Catholicism and its church history is limited, this book has an engaging liveliness that brings several books and authors I have read into an interesting Catholic context. Flannery O'Connor and Evelyn Waugh are discussed in great details. In particular, "Brideshead" is analyzed from a conversion through Love, a Catholic progression from secular to the Divine. Weigel is firm in defending church doctrines and policies. He explaine [...]

I really really loved this book. When I first bought it, I honestly thought it would be "cute" and full of trite, but heart-warming anecdotes, but BOY was I wrong. George Weigel is insanely smart, well-read, well-traveled, and can write one powerful, thought-provoking sentence one after another.This is a must read for all Catholics, arm-chair philosophers, and anyone who enjoys having to work for their food (i.e. looking up a few words on dictionary, but being all the better for it)! 5 stars!

Covering a smattering of topics from grace to beauty, vocation to prayer, suffering and sin to forgiveness, Weigl takes his readers on a voyage around the world to some of the most famous churches - and some more inconspicuous - and introduces them to some of the great authors of (especially 20th century) Catholicism: Flannery O'Connor, GK Chesterton, Edith Stein, St John Paul II, Evelyn Waugh, Cardinal John Henry Newman The result is an inspirational meditation about Catholicism and why its "ha [...]

A most excellent guide for Catholics young and old. In reading each letter, one learns intriguing historical, cultural, and religious information that aids in the growth of one's faith and the articulation of one's faith. I enjoyed this novel immensely. In addition to such wonderful information, these letters take you one the best journey around the world. A must read from a talented and knowledgeable writer. Happy reading!